Hummingbird Feeders and Hummingbird Liquid Feeders are often an after thought in the Back Yard for Birding.  When you are feeding birds, the most common food source is a seed or a nut variety, or even some kind of suet mix.  However, there are so many birds that have adapted to feeding specifically from flowers, and from flowering plants.  The many food source for these very imaginative birds is the juice or the nectar from the flowers in the wild.   Hummingbirds are the smallest birds in nature, and have some very unique feeding habits from their use of nectar as food.  Here is how you can incorporate this food source for your back yard hummingbird flock.

Find a great liquid feeder for your Hummingbird

A perky pet or other small drop style liquid feeder that allows storage of the syrupy liquid food, until the hummingbird comes to call, is the best option to feed hummingbirds.  With a drop style, the feeder mimics the nectar offering from most flowers that hummers are used to.  Finding a bright colored stem to the liquid feeder is a good way to entice your hummingbird to feed on the stem, and once they do, they will come back time and time again.  Your back yard is never complete without a liquid feeder, and if you have a bright red feeder, with some yellow spots, you are sure to attract some hummingbirds to your feeder.  Be sure to follow directions on filling your feeder, and place it out in safe times to ensure that you are keeping your hummingbird healthy.

How to Hang Your Hummingbird Feeder : When and How Often

Hummingbird colonies are often very adaptable, but follow the weather and temperatures due to the nature of their bodies, and their food needs.  Hummingbirds have the fastest beating heart, and the smallest heart in the bird world.  They are often elegantly feathered, with soft translucent spikes of color to attract a mate.  In Ecuador, and parts of Central America, there are over 100 species of hummingbirds, who have beautiful displays of tail feathers, colors, and calls.  They are often non-migratory, and stay in these warmer areas almost entirely.  Ruby Throat ed Hummingbirds are migratory species, and bring a good display to Southern Parts of America, and even travel as far north as Canada in the summer.  Not wanting to summer in the heat, they migrate as far north as food stuffs are plentiful.  Hang a liquid feeder, and you can very much count on hummingbirds staying around your back yard for the summer.

Tips on Hanging a Hummingbird Feeder

• Hang from a few locations to avoid fights and territory issues
• Hang from a sunny spot and the other feeders from shady spots
• Fill Feeders and Leave filled no more than 48 hours
• Clean feeders with non-toxic acids like vinegar, lemon juice, water mix, and rinse thoroughly with water
• Use multiple feeders to clean and dry completely, revolving feeders to ensure health of your hummingbirds
• Mix 1/4 sugar to 3/4 water in normal times of the summer, 1/3 sugar to 2/3 water in times of early spring and late fall
• Hang at the very first day of 55 degrees and continue to hang, clean and refill with higher concentration of sugar mix
• One week after seeing a hummingbird feed, reduce sugars to 1/4 of your feeder.
• Keep sugar water in the fridge in the heat of the summer, ready for a change of feeders.
• Keep feeders filled in the fridge, ready to change out each morning, with a crisp, cool mix ready to hang.
• Use baby bottle brushes to clean your feeders.
• Never use soap on your feeders, and rinse and soak after any cleaning
• Remove feeders after the first full frost.

If you continue to clean, refill, and maintain your feeders, you will not have any problems with ants, but if you do, move to a new location for a while.  A paste of baking soda on the hook that the feeder hung, can be a great way to confuse the ants as well.  Hummingbirds are the most beautiful of birds, with a tenacity of a terrier and the swiftness of a sports car.  They will not be deterred from survival, and have made our lives better with each and every visit.  It is proof that the life we see in our back yard is far more interesting than what we can see on television. Make a hummingbird happy today with some of your own tender loving care in a liquid feeder.